Cryptic News from the Willow Creek View. Transhuman Sasquatch Strangeness from the Middle of Nowhere.
A Voice Howling out from the Klamath-Trinity-Siskiyou Wilderness. This is the Megaphone of Steven Streufert and Bigfoot Books, a Used Book Store in Willow Creek, Humboldt County, Extreme Northern California.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Books and Other Media on BF Stuffed into the Brain of Steven Streufert.

NEW! NEW! NEW!

Our new sub-site, THE BIGFOOT BOOKS SASQUATCH BIBLIOGRAPHY is a list of books and other media concerning our favorite hirsute, cryptid creature that I've read or otherwise imbibed over the last few years. It covers only Bigfoot, Yeti, Abominable Snowman, Sasquatch and other hominoid/hominid cryptids. It never ceases to amaze me how many books have been written on this subject, and how prolific the field still remains.

This bibliography will endeavor to provide cover art for even the most rare items, and will have explanatory text added as we have time. We are always adding to the list as we voraciously devour them. Soon this list will be fully annotated, completed and corrected to the best of our recollection, so check back from time to time. The "blog" will have only one posting, but it will be updated from time to time as we move on in our research. Check it at: http://bigfootbibliography.blogspot.com/.

Images: Roger Patterson's book, a rare classic; a raven who came knock, knock, knocking at our book shop; Meet the Sasquatch, perhaps the best comprehensive book on Bigfoot; and Daniel Perez' essential reference tome--when will he update it? We hope soon!

At the moment the list does not cover web sites, but our readers may always refer to our links section on the lower right hand side of this blog for what we consider to be the best on the WWW. There will always be a link for the Bibliography on our main blog here, in the "Notable Posts, Publications and Projects" links section to right.

This bibliography is not meant to be exhaustive. It is only a personal record of my own Bigfoot research.

If one wants a great resource of everything, at least up to its 1988 publication date, one simply must get Daniel Perez' BIG FOOTNOTES.

Before that a bibliographic work by Walter James McClarin, Bigfoot: A Bibliography of Literature Pertaining to Alleged Undiscovered Hominoids in Various Regions of the World, was published in 1969, but that one is darn near impossible to find.

There is a newer "Monsters" bibliography that came out a while back, but now we can't seem to find a listing for it. Guess we'll just have to ask Daniel about that one....

The folks at Bunbury Films were so kind as to send us a screener copy of their fine new Bigfoot documentary release. Check out the trailer HERE on the Bunbury Films site. On December 18th a website for this film will be launched: bigfootsreflection.com (UPDATE: SITE NOW UP AND LIVE! Click HERE to access or purchase DVD.) We'll have an update on that when the site is running. For now, check out their FaceBook fan group HERE. It has an extended bit of the John Green interview not seen fully in the film, and is supposed to have more "bonus material" added in the future. The film is no longer available from Amazon. It will become available on the company website, the price being $25 + shipping.

Here is the official promotional text for the film:

"Shot on location in high definition in the Pacific rain forests, the hour long POV documentary is a modern psychological and ecological exploration of the giant ape-man legend of North America from the perspective of those who choose to study it and guard its wild habitat. Bigfoot's Reflection examines the struggles of the few influential scientists (John Bindernagel, Robert Pyle), researchers (John Green, Bill Miller, John Kirk III, Thomas Steenburg, Richard Noll) and Native American guide (Mel Skahan) who have committed themselves to the puzzling legend - even in the face of ridicule - as they strive to bring humanity and a scientific method to the pursuit of the elusive creature. Bigfoot's Reflection pores over the principal evidence of the last fifty years and plunges into those cold, rugged and dark places where the final proof continues to elude them; a place where few hazard to even venture. Can it be said that the creature they seek lives within them too?"

OUR THOUGHTS: Bigfoot's Reflection is a Canadian production, and focuses mostly on the Pacific Northwest region in British Columbia and Washington state, featuring researchers from that area. It was originally broadcast in 2007 on the Space Channel in Canada, with interviews that seem to have been done 2006 or so (John Green speaks of the Patterson film being 39 years old). It is actually about 49 minutes long, seemingly made to fill a one-hour TV slot with commercials added. We have only one complaint: would that it were TWICE as long!

Images: from the DVD case, or taken as screen captures from the documentary. To left, 6-foot 5-inch, 220 pound cryptozoologist John Kirk stands in front of a nearly life-sized MK Davis-enhanced"Patty" image, demonstrating how much more massive a creature she is than he. Also, the Bigfoot's Reflection FaceBook logo, and a quote from Nietszche used in the film, below. CLICK TO ENLARGE.

This film is a big step up from one's average TV documentary. It does not have the hype and repetition found in something like History Channel's MonsterQuest. Rather, this one falls somewhere between the great Sasquatch Odyssey and Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science. It does not focus on the often fruitless and inconclusive evidentiary matters such as DNA recovery and hair, toenail and scat collection. More fruitful is the way it looks at the PEOPLE involved, and their quest for understanding of one of the world's last bona fide mysteries.

This is, we take it, what "Bigfoot's reflection" is in this film: that part of the mystery of Sasquatch that lives in the human being, the ways in which a sighting can change one's life forever, the way this mystery can come to dominate a person's life and become that person's life's grail quest. Much like Sasquatch Odyssey in this regard--seeking out the human drama of the pursuit and obsession--but lacking that film's tongue-in-cheek approach, Bigfoot's Reflection seeks to present the phenomenon and Bigfoot research as wholly reasonable and, yes, plausible. At the very least, Bigfoot comes to stand for the power of nature and the meaning of the Wild. The creature represents the deep, still wild and instinctual part of ourselves, that which we have lost beneath the layering of urban culture and technological civilization. In this sense, the Bigfoot quest is one for validity, Truth even, for reality. It is the exact opposite of the lurid depictions seen in monster movies and tabloid journalism.

It is refreshing to view a Bigfoot documentary that does not secretly try to exploit and ridicule the subject and its interviewees, nor to lead the viewer on down dead end alleys of unfulfilled expectations and unresolved questions, a la MonsterQuest. This one explores the issue with sincerity and true curiosity. For those people drawn in to The Search, Bigfoot becomes a nearly tangible yet elusive presence outside, and becoming part of one's inner being that is seen reflected in the world's wild places. Though perhaps unseen, Bigfoot looks back at us, and reflects back from within us, in relation to every powerful mountain, forest, lake or river valley. It is, to the initiated, a very real animal like us, a truly proven thing; but it also embodies something mysterious, something of the Spirit World, the living force within the world so heavily denied by modern Science and urban human society.

One can sense the power of emotion in these guys: as researcher Rick Noll speaks of the idea of a Bigfoot being captured and put in a zoo he seems nearly moved to tears by the thought. As Yakama Native American forester Mel Skahan and researcher Bill Miller recount their sightings, one senses the lingering power of the experience that can still raise hairs on the back of the neck in the recounting even years later. There is hard-core determination, seen as field researchers Bill Miller and Canadian Thomas Steenburg plow up snowed over mountain roads in a six-wheel off-road vehicle in search of footprints. There is dogged persistence as seen in the eyes of John Green, one of Bigfooting's original authors, after his over fifty years of researching and seeking the elusive creature.

Two scientists are brought in, but without belaboring the laboratorial and technical angle. John Bindernagel, a field naturalist, shows footprint casts that to him are clearly verifying evidence; and yet one senses a bit of exasperation in him that he is not believed by the mainstream: "It's not a matter of belief or faith in something here. It's a matter of having scrutinized the evidence and having found it adequate. And realizing that others are unaware of... most of this evidence." And then, later, he says, "It's not that scientists are out there looking for it and can't find it. Scientists are looking the other way. It's not the Sasquatch which has eluded scientists. but scientists which have chosen to elude the Sasquatch. They don't want to hear about it!"

As the next scientist, Robert Michael Pyle (author of the fine book, Where Bigfoot Walks) says, there is no legitimate scientific, anthropological or biological reason that Bigfoot could not exist. In terms of evolutionary processes and known antecedents, habitat, food sources, etc., there is every indication that it could and quite probably does exist.

What keeps other scientists from looking into it, Pyle says, is "their own fear of ridicule." He indicates (we paraphrase) that he himself is "appropriately skeptical," but that the skepticism becomes considerably less pronounced the more he considers (and experiences) the phenomenon. Mr. Pyle has a rather poetic, Thoreauvian soul, not that of the cold-hearted, laboratory-bound, scoffing scientist. This willingness to consider out-of-the-ordinary things from a naturalistic perspective really sets him apart from the several professional skeptics also presented in the film. Where the skeptics seem to be either making excuses or reaching beyond logic to explain away Bigfoot, Pyle allows the mystery--and the evidence--to dwell within himself as a possibility:

"If the world becomes so tamed that we no longer even imagine giant hairy apes out there in the forest, if our hearts become so jaded that we cannot even imagine mysteries out there, then we've lost something absolutely profound."

Illinois native, Bill Miller, now living in Canada (near Green and Steenburg), is one of the most intriguing characters in the film. Speaking of the area around Lake Harrison he says, "There are places that are so thick and so remote you could hide a dinosaur up there and no one would ever know." Speaking of the wild and going out on Bigfoot research trips, he characterizes it as an intense and mysterious place: "A guy once told me, That's a man's world out there--and it is. It's a dangerous place, very dangerous.... You just don't play around, you just don't play around with nature and the type of animals you've got out there.... To me its like exploration, going onto another planet."

Eloquent and rational as ever, John Green appears as a sort of "Moses," the historian and granddad of Bigfooting. Regarding his thousands of collected reports he says, "When you consider all of the things that people could describe, there's just a marvelous consistency in the things they DO describe." This consistent reportage suggests the reports' conformity to the description of a real animal.

John Kirk, cryptozoologist and another Canadian, points out that people often call him crazy for seeking the Sasquatch. But, he says to them, what other areas of my life do I seem crazy? None. So why do they assume he is crazy just for wanting to explore the Bigfoot mystery? On the Sasquatch: "I see it's humanity, I see its reticence, I see its shyness.... This is a creature that is far more intelligent than people give it credit for." Hence, in understanding the unique qualities of the Bigfoot we can come to see that it is not seen, basically, because it is smarter than the average bear. If it is approximately as intelligent as we are, and it simply does not want us to encounter it, then it could apply all those brains to being sure to evade humans, their guns, trucks and other abhorrent things.

Kristine Walls appears as the only woman researcher in this film; but she has something important to say: "A tip is to not try to sneak around in the field. They are far superior to us as far as living in the forest, and all their senses are better than ours. I would strongly recommend.. to draw a Sasquatch TO you. You're not going to find a Sasquatch, they're going to find you. Go into a likely area, do not be quiet... anything you can do that is gentle, that's non-aggressive."

As Thomas Steenburg succinctly sums it all up, "The Sasquatch mystery, it sort of tells you that there's still wilderness out there, there's still places we haven't trodden yet, there's still things to discover, there's still things to see. There are still mysteries to solve. And to me the Sasquatch is exactly that. It's wilderness, it's the unknown. It's the last frontier--and we're trying to find it."

In short, this is a great documentary, and should be in the library of every enthusiast. Also, if you need a sensible, credible and intriguing means of convincing your friends and family that there is more to this Bigfoot phenomenon, then this would be one of the top three Sasquatch films you should have. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Don't forget: the film will be available when the company site launches on December 18th. Go to: bigfootsreflection.com at that time to get a copy or check out the other cool things they have.

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Bonus Image:

Here's one for the believers in the "Bluff Creek Massacre Theory." Pictured is John Green from his August, 1967 trip in the Bluff Creek area. Shown with him is the hired tracking dog, White Lady. Contrary to the theory, it is obvious here that this sweet and grinning creature is NOT an "attack dog" that supposedly viciously bit "Bob Titmus" as these guys were supposedly killing off a family of Sasquatch at the Patterson-Gimlin film site. And why would this dog be so tame and friendly with Green, but then attack Green's good friend Titmus? Rather, this dog was brought along to try to track Bigfoot's trail in the investigation of the Blue Creek Mountain footprints, weeks before the PGF was shot down in the creekbed. It was this footprint find, and a subsequent notification of Roger Patterson by Al Hodgson of Willow Creek that brought the P-G expedition down to the Bluff Creek zone.

They wanted to film the footprints, at least, if not the creature itself. It was August or very early September when the above photo was taken, conspiracy folks, certainly not on October 20th. Travel dates and the locations of the primaries involved are KNOWN factors. Green, Titmus and Dahinden were NOT at the film site on Oct. 20th. Green was in Canada, presumably working his journalist's day job. Dahinden was down in the SF Bay Area. Titmus didn't arrive on the scene until like nine days after the film was shot, and then he cast the famous ten footprints of the trackway of the film's creature. How did they survive the rainstorm, you ask? Because Bob Gimlin covered them up with tree bark slabs. So there. Case settled in our opinion.

"Me want talk about how me mad at NABS Dave, he not answer email from me any more. And I BIGFOOT! He say he look for me, but HA! He think me backstab him, he think me not loyal. He wrong. He back-NABS me! He the one who go and get mad about no thing. Just because me talk to hu-man bigfooter guy Perez. Just because me talk about normal things that should be talk about. That what thinking creature do! He think me not HU-MAN enough for him. He think me smell too bad to be in him books. Me have too much hair for Dave. He want me get hair cut, carry stick tool, mate with hu-man woman. Me happy with my harem of nice, furry, stinky mountain ape girlfriends. He have picture in head of me like out of TV cartoon. He so wrong it make me laugh, ha ha ha!, and it echo through woods and mountain. Me not care what Nabby Dave EXPERTS say. Who are THEY? Dumb hu-man. Heads in hu-man la la land. They know no thing about me, they never see me, and if they stay in dumb hu-man office in lame hu-man city they never will."

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This blog is copyright 2009, Steven Streufert. If quoting or if you want to repost any text found here please notify us and kindly place a link to this blog with your citation. Thanks!

COMING SOON, though slightly delayed by the holidays and his work schedule: our PART TWO of the M.K. DAVIS INTERVIEW AND DISCUSSION. At the rate things are going, both in time and volume, there may even be a PART THREE.

Also coming up: Book Reviews! We're reading Shannon Wallace's new novel, THE FARM, which is based in part upon "the latest Bigfoot research." She was nice and kindly as to send us a spanking new review copy. Also included is another novel, BROTHER ESAU, which has some very interesting coverage of the topic of hominology and the Snowman.
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